21st of December
Queen Adriana looked at her husband Richard as he sat at his desk, her pregnant belly was swollen, she was only 7 months. Everyone thought she would have a boy but she could sense it was a girl. They wanted a surprise so none of them knew what the gender will be.
"How are you feeling today, my love?" Richard asked.
"Not too bad," Adriana replied as she shifted uncomfortably in the chair.
They've always wanted children, it took them both a whole to convince with endless amounts of meetings with a fertility doctor or trying things that boosted their fertility. Suddenly Adriana hunched over, she gasped as pain filled her belly.
She felt a gush of water spill down her legs, her eyes widened as she held her stomach tightly, tears in her eyes.
"I think the baby is coming."
King Richard looked up from his paperwork, his mouth wide open.
"No way."
Their baby wasn't due for at least another 2 months. Adriana whimpered as she tried to stand up, her body was weak.
"We have to go," she cried.
King Richard called for the nurse and doctor immediately while escorting his love to the infirmary. Adriana cried once again as the pain continued to build, she tried to breathe through the pain but nothing was working.
The two of them made it to the infirmary in no time, well they were hoping so. Richard helped Adriana undress before slipping on a different robe. Adriana laid on the bed and breathed once again.
Laying in the bed, the pain was clear on her face. She screamed every five seconds, hoping the baby would shoot out easily. Though, that wasn't the case. Maya tried breathing excuses as the midwife suggested, yet, still, the contractions continued to wear her down.
A little more water came out of her body, causing her to cry out, she gripped onto Richard's hand as tightly as she could. The pain got worse before the door opened to reveal the doctor.
"Queen Adriana, I need to check how far you are," the doctor said as he put some gloves on making sure they were clean.
He walked forward towards Adriana pulling her legs apart causing her to moan as it hurt to move, inserting his hand to check her cervix, to see how far she was. His eyes widened as she was already 10cm.
"My Queen, you are 10cm which means you need to push. On your next round of contractions, you need to push."
Adriana nodded, just as she said that her body jerked as another contraction came, she screamed out loud as she pushed as hard and for as long as she could. An hour passed before they made progress.
She was sweating as she pushed growing tired by each moment, Richard patted her forehead with a lukewarm towel. Not too cold to shock her body and not too hot either.
"I see the head my Queen, keep pushing," the doctor instructed.
Adriana used all the strength she had to push again, the pain was unbearable. If you had asked her what it felt like, she would say. It felt like someone was pulling your insides out.
"This isn't good," Doctor Johnor exclaimed. He widened his eyes. "It looks like something isn't right with your baby. It's the umbilical cord. it's wrapped around her neck."
"Shit!" King Richard grabbed his chest and started heaving, he wanted to be strong for his wife but how could he?
"What does that mean?!" Adriana yelled through her pushing and pain.
"If we don't get the baby out now, she is going to die."
"Do a C-section," the midwife said.
"It's too late. By the time I get ready to do that the baby will be dead. I'm sorry, but we're going to have to rely on faith alone for this."
A doctor, someone who studied science and only believed in the facts, had to now rely on what he could not predict, on something that science alone could not solve. This, my friend, was also part of the prophecy.
"I feel like I'm going to throw up," Adriana spoke.
Her body was hot, heavy and in pain. She felt like this nightmare would never end. It was as if she had gone to hell and back, though the fire continued to burn. Yes, this moment was supposed to be sweet and memorable, except it wasn't. Adriana wanted all the agonizing to end. Right here. Right now.
"Please, get it out of me. I don't know how much longer I can push," Adriana cried, she didn't want to lose her baby.
"Do you need water," Richard chanted.
"Is the position comfy enough for you?" the midwife asked for the eightieth time.
"Keep pushing, you're almost there," the doctor reminded her.
All Adriana wanted was for them to...
"Shut up!!" she screamed.
Still heaving and pushing steadily. Then, entering the room was Adriana's mother. She went by the bed and held up one of her daughter's legs to help.
"Mom," Adriana said, relieved. If anyone could brighten her day it would be her mom.
"It's fine, all you need to do is keep breathing."
"They said the baby has a—"
Adriana's mother shushed her. "I already know," she said. "Just keep pushing. Don't quit now or all of this was for nothing."
They went on like this for a while. Breathing, chanting and pushing. It was a repeated cycle. Adriana, feeling drowsy, was beginning to pass out. Who knew how long she had left to continue like this.
The baby didn't seem like it wanted to come out, anyway. The baby's head popped back into her mother's body so quickly. Because of the blood being slippery, the doctor couldn't get a good grip on the head. It wasn't until the next long push that got the job done. Half the baby exited Adriana's body and the doctor was able to pull out the rest of the body.
"It's a girl," the doctor called as he immediately cut the cord.
"A girl?" Adriana asked making sure she heard right.
Their baby girl let out a massive cry, as the midwife brought her over to Adriana placing it carefully on her chest. Richard stood close, tears streaming down his face. He was so happy
"I love you," Adriana said, looking deep into the baby's eyes. And with that, the baby went silent. No more crying, just silent.
A minute based by and the midwife took the baby to clean her up and do a few tests. By the time they tried breastfeeding the baby in the recovery room. Everyone was overjoyed that there had been a beautiful baby girl born.
"What's her name?" Adriana's mother asked.
"Elizabeth Jane Marie, she's perfect and she even has the royal birthmark. A white rose," Adriana spoke as she looked at her husband.
****
Adriana jumped awake, as she heard the sound of the windows crashing from the window, it's only been a few hours since Elizabeth was born. Something inside her didn't fit well. Adriana walked over towards Elizabeth's bassinet, only to notice she wasn't there.
"Richard!" She screamed.
Causing Richard to wake up, he stumbled over towards her, "What.." his voice stopped as he noticed Elizabeth was missing.
"Where is she? Where is our daughter?" He asked.
Adriana said nothing as she cried, leaning into her husband. Who kidnaps a baby? Especially after it was born? The two of them vowed to never stop looking for their daughter